News

The Victorian Fury has stretched its winning streak to 17 matches in the Australian Netball League after clean sweeping its three matches in Round 3 over the weekend.

The defending ANL champions moved to the top of the ladder after toppling the Netball NSW Blues (66-37), the Southern Force (53-51) and intrastate rivals the Victorian Flames (56-42) in an action-packed weekend at the Waverley Netball Centre.

The Fury’s two-goal win over the Force was the closest match of the weekend with the hosts overcoming a four-goal half-time deficit to score a crucial win. The introduction of former Melbourne Vixens shooter and NSW Swifts recruit Erin Hoare into goal shooter proved crucial in the second half.

Hoare shot 22 goals while midcourter Kelsey Browne was also influential after shifting to wing attack.

In Sunday’s Victorian derby, a big second quarter helped the Fury jump away to a 12-goal half-time lead and they were able to maintain that advantage for the next two quarters.

The combination of Stephanie Puopolo and Alice Teague-Neeld proved difficult for the Flames defenders to handle with Puopolo finishing off her productive weekend with 25 goals at 90 per cent accuracy in the win.

Despite their narrow loss to the Fury, the Force were able to score two wins over the weekend against the Flames and Blues to move into second spot on the ladder, a game behind the Fury.

Adelaide Thunderbirds pair Cody Lange and Laura Packard led the way for the South Australians.

The Flames stayed in touch with the top four after beating the Blues by four goals on Saturday night in a hard-fought contest.

Brisbane and Hobart are the host venues for the next round of the Australian Netball League this weekend.